Why Iran's Top Leaders Believe That the End of Days Has Come
Nov 07, 2011 3:09 PM EST
Why would Iran authorize a major terrorist operation on American
soil? Skeptics say the much-discussed "foiled" Iranian plot
makes no sense. We will know soon enough if the Feds have
sufficient evidence related to this specific plot. But Iranian
leaders may, in fact, have a motive to accelerate direct attacks
on the U.S.: Shia Islamic eschatology, or "End Times" theology.
Iran's Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
are convinced that the End of Days has come. They believe the
Shia messiah known as the "Twelfth Imam" or the "Mahdi" will
appear soon to establish a global Islamic kingdom known as the
caliphate.
What's more, they believe the way to hasten the coming of the
Twelfth Imam is to annihilate Israel (which they call the
"Little Satan"), and the United States (which they call the
"Great Satan"). We should not, therefore, be surprised that Iran
is probing for weaknesses in American intelligence and homeland
security.
Khamenei told Iranians in July 2010 that he personally met with
the Twelfth Imam. He also claimed to be the personal
representative of the Mahdi on earth, and said all Muslims must
"obey him." Meanwhile, Western intelligence agencies say he
continues to work with Ahmadinejad and the Iranian military to
develop nuclear warheads and the ballistic missiles to deliver
them.
Much of the media has focused on Iran's threats to wipe Israel
"off the map." But journalists have generally ignored the fact
that the Iranian regime is equally determined to destroy the
United States.
On October 26, 2005, for example, Ahmadinejad said, "God
willing, with the force of God behind it, we shall soon
experience a world without the United States and Zionism."
On June 2, 2008, Ahmadinejad said, "Today, the time for the fall
of the satanic power of the United States has come, and the
countdown to the annihilation of the emperor of power and wealth
has started."
Iran's leaders actually believe that the destruction of the U.S.
is foreordained, just as the Soviet Union's implosion was
predetermined. They see U.S. economic weakness as a sign that
the end of America is near.
Other signs include President Obama's political weakness in the
polls and his unwillingness to use force against Iran even after
the Iranian murder of Americans in Iraq, Afghanistan, Saudi
Arabia and Lebanon over the years.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sees the gravity of
the situation. "The Obama presidency has two great missions:
fixing the economy, and preventing Iran from gaining nuclear
weapons," he told The Atlantic magazine in March 2009. "You
don't want a messianic apocalyptic cult controlling atomic
bombs," Netanyahu said of the Iranian leadership. "When the
wide-eyed believer gets hold of the reins of power and the
weapons of mass death, then the entire world should start
worrying, and that is what is happening in Iran."'
Unfortunately, Netanyahu hasn't seen the Obama administration
strengthen the American economy or take decisive measures to
stop Iran from getting the Bomb, and he is getting anxious. "The
international community must stop Iran before it's too late,"
Netanyahu warned in his United Nations speech last month. "If
Iran is not stopped, we will all face the specter of nuclear
terrorism, and the Arab Spring could soon become an Iranian
winter....The world around Israel is definitely becoming more
dangerous."
To truly understand how just how dangerous Iran's regime really
is, American leaders need to better understand Shia eschatology.
The Twelfth Imam was a real, flesh-and-blood person who, like
the eleven Shia leaders who went before him, was an Arab male, a
direct descendent of the founder of Islam, and was thought to
have been divinely chosen to be the spiritual guide and ultimate
human authority of the Muslim people. His actual name was
Muhammad Ibn Hasan Ibn Ali, and it is generally believed by
Shias that he was born in Samarra, Iraq, in AD 868.
At a very young age, however, Ali vanished from society. Some
say he was four years old, while others say five and some say
six. Some believe he fell into a well in Samarra but his body
was never recovered. Others believe the Mahdi's mother placed
him in the well to prevent evil rulers from capturing him and
killing him, and that little Ali subsequently became
supernaturally invisible. This is where the term "Hidden Imam"
is derived, as Shias believe that Ali is not dead but has simply
been hidden from the sight of mankind - Shias refer to this as
"occultation" - until the End of Days, when Allah will reveal
him once again.
Shias believe the Mahdi will return in the last days to
establish righteousness, justice, and peace. When he comes, they
say, the Mahdi will bring Jesus with him. Jesus will be a Muslim
and will serve as his deputy, not as King of kings and Lord of
lords as the Bible teaches, and he will force non-Muslims to
choose between following the Mahdi or death.
By most accounts, Shia scholars believe the Mahdi will first
appear in Mecca and conquer the Middle East, then establish the
headquarters of his global Islamic government-or caliphate-in
Iraq. But there is not universal agreement. Some believe he will
emerge from the well at the Jamkaran Mosque in Iran and then
travel to Mecca and Iraq. Some say that he will conquer
Jerusalem before establishing his caliphate in Iraq. Others
believe Jerusalem must be conquered as a prerequisite to his
return.
None of this is actually written in the Kuran, and Sunnis reject
this eschatology.
But one thing that is fairly well agreed upon among devout
"Twelvers" is that the Mahdi will end apostasy and purify
corruption within Islam. He is expected to conquer the Arabian
Peninsula, Jordan, Syria, "Palestine," Egypt and North Africa,
and eventually the entire world. During this time, he and Jesus
will kill between 60 and 80 percent of the world's population,
specifically those who refuse to convert to Islam.
Ayatollah Ibrahim Amini, a professor at the Religious Learning
Centre in Qom, wrote a noteworthy book entitled, Al-Imam
al-Mahdi, the Just Leader of Humanity, describing the connection
between Shia eschatology and Iranian foreign policy. "Those who
persist in their disbelief and wickedness shall be killed by the
soldiers of the Mahdi," wrote Amini. "The only victorious
government in the entire world will be that of Islam, and people
will devotedly endeavor to protect it. Islam will be the
religion of everyone, and will enter all the nations of the
world. . . .The Mahdi will offer the religion of Islam to the
Jews and the Christians; if they accept it they will be spared,
otherwise they will be killed. . . . It seems unlikely that this
catastrophe can be avoided. . . . Warfare and bloodshed [are]
inevitable. . . The Imam of the Age and his supporters will
overcome the forces of disbelief and godless materialism by
undertaking jihad."
In light of such End Times theology, we shouldn't be surprised
that the Iranian regime is taking a more aggressive posture
towards the U.S. and Israel. Instead, we should be taking
decisive measures to prevent Iran from blind-siding us in the
not-too-distant future with a nuclear terrorist attack or even
an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) attack.
Unfortunately, most of Washington and the world's leadership is
asleep to the prospect of this gathering storm. It is time to
wake up, before it's too late.
Joel C. Rosenberg is the author of eight New York Times
best-selling books about the Middle East. His most recent
political thriller is "The Tehran Initiative." Visit his website
at www.joelrosenberg.com